Auxiliary air inlet for internal-combustion engines



F. o. ALToN. AUXIUARY AIR INLET FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

MLICWI'IONl FILED 0CT.13, |920. I

Patented June 27, 1922. v

. act description of the same.

ypartly broken away, of the shell detached;

'iss

FRANCIS O. ALTON, OF VJATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

.AUXILIARY AIB. INLET FOB, INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification Vof Letters Patent. Patented Jun@ 2,7, 1920.2,

Application filed October 13, 1920. Serial No. 416,614.

To @ZZ/whom t may concern.' v

lge it known that I, FRANcis G. ALToN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, Lresidingat Waterbury, in the countyl of New Haven:V and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Auxiliary Air Inlets for Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the characters of referencer marked thereon, `to be a full, clear, and ex- This invention relates to an auxiliary airl inlet for internal combustion engines.

One object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary air inlet in which the air ad# mitted to the intake manifold will be automatically controlled according to the requirements of thev engine.

A further object of the invention is to pro-v vide such a device in which both the suction and the momentum of the fuel in the intakeV manifold will be utilized to control the admission of auxiliary air to the manifold.

A further object of the invention is to prof vide such a device which will be self con. tained andv which may be applied to th-e manifold as a unit. p

A furthe-r object of the invention is to provide such'a device inwhich the air will pass from the. inlet to the manifold withoutv passing through the cylinder in which the suction operated piston works, thereby pre-y venting the entrance of dirt or foreign ma"- ter into the cylinder.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the device is described in detail. y Y

In the accompanying drawings Fig.V l is a side view of an auxiliary air inlet for internal combustion engines constructed in acf. cordaiice with my invention Fig. 2 is an inner end view thereof; Fig. 3 is an outer end viewV of the same; Fig. 4t is a transverse sectional view of my improved inlet on a larger scale and shown in connection with an intake manifold; Fig. o is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4t; Fig. 6 is a side view,

Fig. 7'is a perspective view of the piston detached. v n i In carrying out my invention I provide a suction operated device connected with the intake manifold to regulate the passage of air to the manifold. In the operation of an-` internal combustion engine there are times when there is a heavy suction in the intakek manifold buty a rich mixture gisrequired and it is not desirable that auxiliary air should be admitted to the manifold. I have, therefore, provided in connection withy the suction operated device a second device which is actuated by the momentum of the fuel Vthrough the manifold to control the communication between the suction operated de- -vice and the manifold and to thus control the amo-init of suction exerted upon the suction operated device. In this mannerthe A amount of auxiliary air drawn into the manifold is limited according to. the needs of the engine and is not determined arbitrarily by the suction in the manifold, lThese results vmay be accomplished with mechanisms of various kinds and it will beunderstood that the particular device here shown and described Vhas been chosen for the purpose of illustration only.

In the particular embodiment of the iii-y vention hereshown the'air inlet device comprises a main casing l having at one end an air inlet which is here shownv as formed ina cap, or plug, 27, screw threaded into the end ofthe casing 10, whichfis lpreferably cylindrical in form. Thisopening may, if desired, be provided with a screen 28. At the opposite end of the casing a nipple l1 is mounted iii the en d wall of thecasing, preferably centrallythereof, and .in the present instance is screw threaded into an opening in said end'wall. This nippleprojects on both sides of the end wall of the casing and is screwthreaded throughout its length. The nipple is provided with a longitudinalpassageway, the outer portion of which is enlarged to form the chamber l5 while the inner portion is of relatively small diameter and constitutes a passage 16. The enlarged portion, or chamber, l5 of the passage through the nipple extends to a point within the casing and communicates with the invterior thereof by ports 17. That portion of the nipple l1 .which projects on the outer side-of the end` .wall of the casing is utilized for connecting the casing with the manifold and it may be screwed directly into an opening in ther wall of the manifold, which is shown at 14;, or, if, (desired, a cut-off may be interposed between the casing and the manifold sothat the size of the passageway may be regulated or the air inlet may be wholly disconnected from the manifold. In the presentinstance I have shown a stop cock interposed.. between the casing and the manifold and this cock comprises a body portion 12 having a longitudinal passageway therethrough which is controlled by a turn plug, or gat-e, 29havinga manually operated handle 30. One end of the body portion 12 is provided with a screw threaded soc-liet to receive the end of the nipple 11 and when applied to the nipple the stop cock forms a unitary part of the device as a whole, the passageway therein being in open communication with the chamber 15 in the nipple 11. The opposite end of the body 12 of the step cock is reduced and screw threaded, as shown at 13,so that it may be screw threaded into the opening in the wall of the manifold. That port-ion of thepassageway which lies in the screw threaded portion 18 of the stop cock is enlarged to form a chamber 'similar to the chamber 15 which is inopen communication with the interior of the manifold.

Mounted within the casing 10 is a ,suction operated device to control the passage of air from the inlet opening to the 'manifold and, as here shown, this device comprises a shell, or inner casing, 18 spaced `fromthe wall of the outer casing 10. In the present construction the shell, or inner casing, 18 has its outer end open and arranged within an annular flange carried by the cap, .or plug, 27, and is arranged in open communication with the inlet opening in the cap. The opposite, or inner end, of the shell 18 is provided with a boss which is screwthreaded to receive the inner end of the nipple 11 and has formed therein an opening 19 to register with the passageway 16 in the nipple, thus connecting the interior of the shell with the chamber 15 and the manifold. The shell 18 is provided with one or more openings 2O to connect the inlet opening in the cap 27 with the space or passageway between the two casings. In the present instance I have shown a series of these openings spirally arranged so that each opening is spaced a greater distance from the end of the shell than is the next preceding opening. Arranged within the shell 18 is a piston, or suction cup` 21, which, when in its outermost position will close the openings 20 and thus interrupt the communication between the air inlet opening and the manifold. Mounted in the Vpiston is a rod 22 theinner end of which is screw threaded to receive a bearing nut 241 between which yand a washer 26, at the inner end of the` shell 18 a spring 25 is conned-and tends to move the piston normallytoits outer position. The rod 22 is provided with a knob 23 bymeans of which Mit, may be rotated to adjust the nut24 and regulate the tension of the spring, the knut being held against rotation with the rod by the frictional contact between lthenut and the spring. `The spring is of sufiicient tension to hold the piston normally in its outermost position but when the piston is subjected to the suction in the manifold it willbe drawn inwardly-against the tension of the spring, thus uncovering one or more of f the openings 2O and admitting a correspondcasing 10 and thence through the ports'17 to the chamber 15 and the manifold. Consevquently no dirt or foreign matter will be carried into the shell where it might interfere with the operation of'the piston.

As has been stated, satisfactory results can not be had if the suction in the manifold is relied upon alone Vto control the amount of auxiliary air admitted to the manifold and I have, therefore, interposed between the casing 10 and the manifold a device which is actuated by the fuelpassing through the intake manifold to control the communication between the casing 10 and the manifold, thereby regulating the amount of suction exerted upon the piston 21. As here shown, this device is in the form of a butterfly valve 31 mounted in the chamber in the threaded end 13 of the stop cock and has connected therewith a vane 82 which projects beyond the end of the chamber and into the manifold where it lies in the path of the fuel passing through the same. rIhe vane is of relatively narrow construction so that it will not be operated by the suction in the manifold but will be engaged by the fuel and moved according to the momentum ofthe fuel. As shown in Fig. t, the device is connected with a vertical portion of the manifold and, consequently, the vane 32 will .be acted upon by gravity to retain the butteriiy valve normally in its closed position, but as the momentum of the fuel increases the vane will be lifted thereby and the valve 31 gradually opened, thus establishing a communication between the casing 10 and the manifold which increases as the momentum of the fuel increases. Consequently, when the engine is idling, or running light, the butterfly valve will be closed and no suction will be exerted upon the suction operating device. As the throttle valve of the engine is opened the momentum of the fuel increases and the valve 81 is gradually opened until the vane reaches its uppermost position when the valve is fully open and the suction operating device issubjected to the full suction in the manifold. It will be apparent, therefore, that by the use of both a suction operated device and a momentum operated device I am able to automatically regulate the amount of auxiliary air which enters the manifold in accordance with the requirements of the engine and that when a rich fuel is requiredthe 'supply of auxiliary 'air will be reduced or entirely cutoff even though there may be a relativelyA large suction in the manifold, and that when the engine is running at high speed and a lean fuel is desirable the suction operated device will be in full open communication with the manifold. As has been heretofore explained, the casing l0 may be mounted directly upon the manifold, if desired, and if the stop cock is omitted the velocity operated device will be mounted in the chamber l5 of the nipple ll and when so mounted will occupy the same position with relation to the manifold and will operate in the same manner as it does when mounted as shown in the drawings. v

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In a device of the character` described, a casing adapted to communicate with the intake imanifold of an internal combustion engine and having an air inlet, suction operated means to control the passage of air from said inlet to said manifold, and means arranged to be actuated by the fuel passing through said manifold to control the communication between said casing and said manifold.

2. In a device of the character described, a casing adapted to communicate with the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and having an air inlet, suction operated means to control the passage of air from said inlet to said manifold, a valve to control the suction on said suction operated means, and a vane connected with said valve and arranged to project into the path of the fuel in said manifold.

3. In a device of the character described, a casing adapted to communicate with the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and having an air inlet, suction operated means to control the passage of air from said inlet to said manifold, a part connected with said casing, adaptedto be mounted in the wall of said manifold and having a chamber to communicate with said casing and with said manifold, a valve mounted in said chamber, and a vane connected with said valve, extending beyond said chamber and arranged to be actuated by the fuel passing through said manifold.

4. In a device of the character described, a casing adapted to communicate with the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and having an air inlet, suction operated means to control the passage of air from said inlet to said manifold, a part connected with said casing, adapted to be mounted in the wall ofthe manifold 'and having a chamkprojecting into said manifold, and arranged to be actuated by gravity to close said valve and to be actuated by the fuel passing -through said manifold to open said valve.

5. In a device of the character described, a suction operated device to control the admission of air to the manifold of an internal combustion engine, and means controlled by the momentum of the fuel passing through said manifold to regulate the suction exerted upon said suction operated device.

`6. In a device of the character described, a casing having an air inlet and an, air outlet, a suction operated device mounted in said casing to control the passage of ail from said inlet to said outlet, a stop ycock connected with said casing and adapted to be mounted in the wall of a manifold of an internal combustion engine, said stop cock having a passageway to connect said casing with said manifold, a valve mounted in said passageway, and a vane connected with said valve and adapted to extend into said manifold and to be operated by the fuel passing through the same.

7. In a device of the character described, an outer casing adapted to be mounted on the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and having an air inlet and an air outlet, an inner casing mounted within the first mentioned casing, communicating with said outlet and having an opening near the end thereof to connect said inlet with the interior of said outer casing, a suction operated piston arranged within said inner casing, and a spring acting on said piston to hold the saine normally in a position to close the opening in said inner casing, and a device controlled by the momentum of the fuel in said manifold to regulate the suction exerted upon said piston.

8. In a device of the character described, an outer casing having an air inlet, a nipple mounted in the casing opposite said inlet to connect the same with the manifold of an internal combustion engine and .having a passageway therethrough, an inner casing arranged within and spaced from the walls of said outer casing, connected at one end with said nipple and having an opening communicating with the passageway in said nipple, said inner casing having its other end in open communication with the air inlet in said outer casing and having a series of openings to connectY said inlet with the space between the two casings, said nipple having ports to connect the space between the two casings with the passageway in said nipple, a piston mounted in said inner casing to control the openings therein, a spring tending to hold said piston nor- .,I'nally ina position to close allsaid openings7 a valve interposed between said outel` easing and vSaid manifold to regulate the suction' exerted upon said piston, and a Vane Connected -with said valve and adapted to extend into the path of the fuel passing through said manifold.

`Ingtestirnony whereof, I have signed this speeiication in the presence of two subseribing Witnesses.

FRANCIS O. ALTON. Witnesses:

IRA L. STEMBEL, ETHEL HAMILTON. 

